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Here’s Johnny? This is sort of a weird story and I’m not sure if it makes any sense the way I’m telling it, sick but yeah. This happened, and is still happening.

Tracklist

Fusion Unltd – The Sun feat Little Brother, Nickelus F, Hall of Fame, and Skillz. A producer that is sort of new to me. Lyrics ain’t bad either – “When I write I’m enlightening myself”? That’s sort of profound. myspace.com/fusionunltdfup

H.O.P.E – Can’t Knock the Hustle II feat Raquel Rodriguez. The vocals are kinda on the edge of contributing and taking away from the cut, but overall I dig. myspace.com/f2dhope.

Caltroit – Goatit feat Elzhi and Bishop Lamont. Off that recent Black Milk mixtape. This dude is sort of dope on the production. And come on, “raise your hands and see stars like King Hippo”? I hope I’m not the only one here who caught that. myspace.com/blackmk.

Jim Jones, Noe, and Tom Gist – Christmas Eve. Aside from dude feeling the need to do adlibs at the end of every bar, this is sort of a great song. myspace.com/jimjones

Rhymefest – Breakadawn feat Daniel Merriweather and alpha. I’ve dropped one cut from this tape before, but this is seriously a genius project. Don’t miss the skits. myspace.com/rhymefest.

Wurd Munchaz – Shakespeare. This is actually one of my favorite groups. If you don’t get the reference, I don’t know. You don’t spend enough time on the internet. myspace.com/wurdmunchaz

Okay, here:original: marriedtothesea
I mean, come on. A rap song based on an internet joke? What’s next?

Cassius Clay – I Am The Greatest. Yes, as in Muhammad Ali. I checked the latest Shaun Boothe Unauthorized Biography joint (you heard the Bob Marley joint here last episode), and he referenced Ali’s recording career. Apparently people have referred to his stuff as some of the first battle raps – and really, listening to this, I can’t disagree.

John Robinson – Don King. Shouts to JR for linking this one up – been a minute since we’ve had some of his material on the show. If we spin Ali, it’s only fair to spin something about Don King, right? Info about his latest project here: myspace.com/thejohnrobinsonproject.

The Thunderclaps – Judgement Day (short preview edit). Shouts to Charlee for hooking me up with this joint forever ago. I have the long edit, but for some reason I dig the quick pace of this one. myspace.com/thunderclapsmusic.

In Volume 5 of Soultronica, capsule we find our bounty-hunting heroes, Dex Digital and Brothertron, cruising through the Beta Quadrant looking to get paid. Just as Dex gets word about a mysteriously high bounty posted on the perpetrators of a mysterious crime (who gets all bent out of shape over an old WWIII artifact being stolen?), Brothertron notices the same bandits zooming by their ship. Incredulous at their luck, the two give chase.

All is not as it seems, though – it appears that these space pirates have some pretty advanced (and illegal) technology in their little 12-Series beater. What will happen when our brave duo finally encounters the space pirates? Will they get their bounty? Where did the space pirates get that cloaking device? What the hell is a “Guh-Unitay”, and why do the pirates – and the Intergalactic Corporation – want it so bad? Find out in this installment of the Soultronica Series.

PS – Yes, this is a continuation of the soultronica storyline. If you’re new, you might want to start from the beginning.

Tracklist

intro: Josh Ivey: Record Take 62. The opener theme song for our heroes. Josh has been in the lab recently working on some new tracks, but I haven’t heard any of them yet, hint hint.

Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (Justice Remix vs MSTRKRFT Remix). I know that TK already dropped the original of this one back in The New Soul Vol 3 (which you really need to check, by the way), but this first version just goes too hard not to put you all up on. Then we’ve got the re-edit soundclash with the MSTRKRFT version, which doesn’t bang as hard, but the reinterpretation on the synth lines is bad. myspace.com/etjusticepourtous, myspace.com/mstrkrft.

Neptunes + Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. I guess you could call this a remix, but it’s a bit too different to my ears. This circulated a long time ago (yes, Kanye was late to the game), and I just now rediscovered it. Whether you dig their stuff or not (and there’s no reason why you wouldn’t), people like P and Timbo really drive a fair bit of this new sound – as do Daft Punk. myspace.com/pharrell

Styles P – The Hardest ft AZ. Don’t forget that Soultronica has a lot of its roots in straightforward hip-hop as well. This cut could have worked easily as some standard boom-bap NY steez, but the futuristic synths just put this one on some galactic shit. myspace.com/stylesp.

Scienz of Life – Ginsu (Bronx River mix). Got this from John Robinson not too long, and immediately asked to put this one on the show. Took me a second to get to it, but I think it was worth the wait. The original mix is cool, but this futuristic one is just next level for me. myspace.com/scienzoflife.

digilude (battle): Biomass - Auxiumantia. Brilliant ambient producer from my own neck of the woods. If you ever see a flyer with the name “Biomass” on it, go, go, go. Dude brings his own television monitors. myspace.com/biomass.

Ladybug Mecca – Sweet and Polite. I have to admit, it took me a couple listens to really appreciate this one. As you might be able to tell, this one was produced by Sa-Ra. Sometimes I forget how good Ladybug Mecca really is – and the combo of her with the bizarre production of Sa-Ra is just too much. Somebody should tell them to do more collabos. The helium synth at the end is just bananas, by the way. myspace.com/ladybugmecca.

That’s what it is for this week. And yes, there is a whole storyline and universe behind this saga. You do not want to miss what happens next.

For those of you who have heard, heart today is the day of the nationwide protest in Jena, Louisiana for the freedom of Mychal Bell and the rest of the Jena 6.

If you’re not totally up on this situation, listening to this hip-hop podcast should remedy that. This show contains, in part, an interview with Brother James Rucker of ColorofChange.org. But that’s not the only voice you’ll hear. A few days ago I posted a call for messages from the community on this situation, and got literally dozens of calls, which I’ve also added into the mix. You’ll hear people from California, Chicago, NYC, South Africa, Canada, London, and beyond. Rappers, filmmakers, label presidents, students, and everything in between.

Hopefully you dig this one. Thanks again to Color of Change, thanks to every single person that called, and every single person that is continuing to get the word about and fight for positive change. As you listen to this, a few thousand of our brothers and sisters are marching the streets of Jena, LA. The least we can do is make spread the word.

Note: To all college/community radio people: This episode is completely FCC clean and ready for airing. If you do

and air this one, I’d appreciate a quick email so I can publicize that on the site. Thanks.

This is not a simple interview, and it’s definitely not just another episode. This is an hourlong (!) special on the state of hip-hop in the media today.

This special covers everything from the Imus-inspired backlash on Hip-hop to sexism/racism in the media to the Stop Snitching ‘movement” to the number of people that actually dictate what videos get played on BET and subsequently MTV (hint: it’s less than four).

The Background:

During the last few weeks, Hip-Hop has been under serious fire from the mainstream media – not only because of the backlash following Don Imus’ termination, but the more recent 60 minutes interview featuring Cam’ron and Anderson Cooper’s interpretation of the Stop Snitching mantra. So in order to bring some clarity to the situation, I spoke to several different community leaders, all of different backgrounds.

The Guests:

Aishah Simmons – An African-American feminist and activist documentary filmmaker, producer of the award-winning No!: The Rape Documentary, and perhaps best known to longtime listeners of the Mixtape Show as the older sister of Atlantic Recording artist DJ Drama (previously interviewed here).
John Robinson – also known as Lil Sci – a producer, MC, and President of Shaman Work Recordings, which has put out releases from artists such as Emanon, CL Smooth, and MF Doom.

Willie D – a solo artist and core member of one of the most influential rap groups to ever come out of the South, the Geto Boys.

Davey D – Hip-hop historian, journalist, deejay, and community activist, whose website, Davey-D’s Hip-Hop Corner, is one of the oldest and most respected Hip-Hop sites on the net.

and David K Far-El – aka D-Brad, the former producer for BET’s Rap City and the creator of Spring Bling. He was fired some time after Viacom’s buyout of BET and is currently working on a book and DVD exposing the commodification of the nation’s biggest outlet and representation of Black and Hip-Hop culture.

The Next Step(s):

I encourage everyone to listen to this feature, pass it on (messageboards, myspace, wherever), and continue the discussion both here in the comments and elsewhere. Or hell, request this on your local community station (see below).

Community Radio:

If you are a radio programmer and are interested in airing this on your local college/community station,

. It is standard radio format (56 minutes) and is completely clean by US FCC standards. If you have any questions, email me and we’ll talk.